Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fiber-reinforced composite material including reinforcement fibers and thermoplastic resin, and a method for manufacturing the same.
Background Art
Fiber-reinforced composite materials including reinforcement fibers and matrix resin (hereinafter called resin) are lightweight compared with metal materials and have high mechanical strength and elasticity due to the reinforcement fibers included therein compared with resin materials, and so have recently attracted attention.
For example, a fiber-reinforced composite material such as a sheet molding compound as its example includes reinforcement fibers arranged at random, and has better moldability than materials including woven cloth-form reinforcement fibers as reinforcement fibers. Such a material, therefore, can make a compact in a complicated shape easily, and has high productivity as well.
Such a fiber-reinforced composite material, however, includes reinforcement fibers arranged at random, and so has low mechanical strength compared with those including woven-cloth form reinforcement fibers. Then, when a compact in a more complicated shape is to be formed as stated above, the compact formed may have a part having insufficient stiffness. For some parts to which the compact is used, a part of the compact may undergo local load applied thereto. In such cases, the compact has to be reinforced partially at such a part of inefficient stiffness or of undergoing local load applied to prevent damage at the compact.
In view of these points, Patent Document 1, for example, proposes a fiber-reinforced composite material 9 that is obtained by preparing a first composite material 92 including a woven fibrous substrate 91 and thermoplastic resin as a reinforcement material, and bonding this first composite material 92 and a second composite material 95 including reinforcement fibers 93 arranged at random and thermoplastic resin 94 by hot pressing or the like, and a method for manufacturing the same as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B. In this way, a fiber-reinforced composite material can increase its strength because of the woven fibrous substrate 91 arranged partially.
Related Art Document
Patent Document
Patent Document 1: JP 2005-538864 A